Line indicator



v. J. GILMORE LINE INDICATOR Aug. 4, 1959 Filed July 9, 1956 INVENTOR.VINCENT J. GILMORE ATTORNEY FIG.2

United States Patent ()1 International Business Machines; Corporation;New York, -N.Y., a :corporationof New York Application July 9; 1956Serial Not- .596541 6- Claims. (CL- 197-'189) This invention relates totypewriters, and more particular-1y to' a devicefor'visiblyindicatingtheextent of movementofa sheet ofpaper through' typewriter:

Tlieprimary object of the inventionis to"provide-" an improved deviceoperatively' connected to a platen shaft ofa typewriter'to indicatevisibly the"position of the lower edge of the paper sheet relative" tothe line being typed; I

Another "object of the invention is to -provide= 'for a typewriter,animproved line indicating device-which can be positionedindependentlyof themovernent ofthe typewriter platen? V A"further"objectof the'invention'is to' provide a line indicating device whichcan bereset rapidlyand easily by" the'operator."

In the preferred form of the .invention, thaliheindi catin'g'device' isconnected to the platen shaft by'a "clutch which permits the"operatorto" disconnect the indicator from-'the' platen to position the" papersheetand to set theindicator'onany"desired"position;" With the clutchengaged, a gear moves with th'e'platen shaft and'drives a 'gear trainwhich positions an indicator scale according to" the vertical movementof .the paper "sheet; Wh'en typ-- ing is' completed near theen'd''oftheshe'et, tlie'clutch is disengaged allowing a" spring'to' return"the indicator scale tol its home position.

Otherobjects "of ftheinventiomwill be pointed out in the followingdescription and .claims and illustrated in the "accompanyingdrawings,which disclose," by way ofexample, theprincip'leof the inventiona'ndthe"best mode, whichhas been c0ntemplated,' of applying 'thatprin'cipl'e;

Fig. 1 is an enlargedsideelevational view;'partly" in vertical section;of theindicating-device.

Referring tolFig. 1, it willbe'n'otc'dthat there is showna'p-latenshaftljournaled in a bearing member 2' sup ported acarriage"frame 3 'of'a typewriter. Formed integrally'with the bearing member: areflangeportions 4" engaging opposite'surfaces on the carriage frame forholding'the"memberlagainst axial movement. The platen shaft lpassesthrough a'sle'eve 6anda1'r insert member. 8 of cylindrical shape. Thesleeve 6 eXte'nds intoan enlarged-iborelat o'n'eend "of"th'e insertmember 8 and is coupled tothe Iatterandto the shaft'byascrew 9"in" sucharmanner' that lthey rotate'as a unit; The sleeve 6 and'm'ember'8have' asliding'fit on the shaft- 1; and,

inior'de'r that they may be moved axially a limited amount. relativetothe shaft, there are provided elongated slots ldand ll'l in the sleeveand. member 8, respectively, through which the screw..9 passes Mountedupon the" member 8- withha force fit is a knob-12 which may beoperatedmanually for either rotating'lthe' platen shaft orfor moving themember 8 and the sleeve 6 axiallya As shown dn Fig. l, the pIatenknQb-LPIZ isin ithe eX-= treme right-handiposition; hereafter called theoperatihg position? B'ykmoving the p'latn knob 12 to the left, 'the 2;.insertmember 8 and the sleeve 6 are positioned in the extremeleft-hand'position hereafter called the detent position, where a detentball 14 is urged by a spring 16 into an opening 18in the insert member 8to'retain the parts in such a position without manual eifort.

The sleeve 6 passes through a drive pinion 20 which has a frictionwasher 22 attached'to' its face opposite an enlarged portion 23 ofsleeve. A coil spring 24 is posi tioned around the shaft 1 within thesleeve portion 23 and acts' between a flange 25 on the shaft'an'd thesleeve 6"to force the latter against'th'e friction washer 22; Inthe'operative position, the friction washer 22 and the portion 23 of thesleeve 6 are engaged so that the drive pinion 20is' caused to'rotatewith the shaft 1; When the platenknob12 is in the detented'position, thesleeve 6 is displaced to the left along the shaft 1, and the drivingengagement between the sleeve 6 and the drive pinion 20' is broken sothat the latter turns freely about the sleeve;

As shown'in Fig. 2, the drive pinion 20 is constantly. meshed with anidler gear 28' which is rotatably supported on a cylindrical member 30by a screw 32. The member 30 is disposed about the sleeve 6 and theinsertmember Sand is arranged for manual rotation with respect to theshaft. Formed in an inner surface-of the member 30 is an annular recess31 which receives the head of the screw 9"to prevent movement of themember longitudinally of the shaft 1 while permittingit to rotaterelative theretos Formed in the member 30 is an opening 33 through whichthe screw 9 may be inserted or removedi For preventing rotation of themember 30' other than by manual setting, there is provided a detent pin34'which is held by a spring 35 in engagement with serrations 36 on theouter periphery of themember 30.

The idler gear 28 is constantly in mesh with the teeth of'an-internal orring gear 40 which is supported for rotation on the enlarged portion 23of sleeve 6 and carries a -numerical scale on its outer'surface.Surrounding the sleeve 6 is a torsion spring 42which is connected at oneend'to a stud 44 on the indicator gear 40 and is con-. nected at itsother end to a projection 46 on themember 30'. Formed on the indicatorgear 40 is a lug 48 which is engageable with the projection 46, and thespring 42 tends to turn the gear 40 counter-clockwise in Fig; 2 untilthe lug48 engages the projection 46 as shown. As

the platenis rotated in a paper feeding direction, the

40'is not engaging the projection 46 on the member 30' at-that time,then the. spring 42 operates to rotate:

the gear 40 counter-clockwise in Fig. 2 until such engagement takesplace. When the knob 12 is moved to the left, the detent 14 engages-theopening 18" to hold the sleeve 6 disengaged from the gear 20 whiletheknob is rotated to feed a paper sheet to its first typing line.

With: the paper in typing position, the member 30- is rotated manuallyto effect a turning of the gear 40 for positioning the: indicator scalerelative to an index line 50: marked onwthe upper surface of thecarriage frame adjacent a view window 51. If the member 30 is turned inone direction, its projecting portion 46 acts against the lug 48 andforces the gear 40 to turn in the same directiona Rotation of the member30 in-the opposite directiontehds to move the projection 46"away' from 3the lug 48 but the spring 42 holds the lug against the projection sothat the gear 40 follows the member 30.

The scale on the periphery of the gear 40 may indicate either the travelof the platen surface in inches or the number of lines typed or to betyped. If desired, there may be provided different scales depending uponthe information desired. Scales indicating the number of lines typed orthe travel of the platen surface in inches from the first line typedwould increase progressively in a counter-clockwise direction in Fig. 2.In this case, the member 30 would be rotated, after the paper wasadvanced to position for typing a first line, until the zero point onthe scale came under the index line 5% Scales indicating the spaceremaining on a sheet in terms of lines or inches would increase in aclockwise direction around the indicator gear 40. When these scales areused, the member 30 is rotated until the value indicating the maximumnumber of lines or inches within a space to be typed is under the indexline 50.

After the member 39 has been positioned, the knob 12 is pulled outwardlyon the platen shaft until the portion 23 of the sleeve 6 engages thefriction washer 22 and operatively connects the gear 20 to the platenshaft. As the platen is rotated in a paper feeding direction, the gear20 drives gear 28 to effect rotation of the indicator gear 40 forpositioning the scale under the index line so as to provide anindication depending on the values used on the scale. When typing hasbeen finished on a sheet of paper, the knob 12 is moved to the left fordisengaging the sleeve portion 23 from the gear 20 and permitting thespring 42 to return the indicator gear to its home position. With theknob 12 in the detent position, a new sheet may be inserted withoutdisturbing the initial setting. The first typing line is brought toposition using the knob to turn the platen. Thereafter, the knob isreturned to the operative position connecting the gear train to theshaft, and operation may proceed according to the previous description.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out thefundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferredembodiment, it will be understood that various omissions andsubstitutions and changes in the form and details of the deviceillustrated and in its operation may be made without departing from thespirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limitedonly as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for indicating the position of a paper sheet relative to theline of typing on the platen of a typewriter comprising, in combination,a shaft supporting said platen and having a portion extending from oneend thereof, a sleeve shaped member slidably mounted on the extendingportion of said shaft, means connecting said sleeve shaped member forrotation with said shaft but permitting limited movement axially of thelatter, a driving gear freely mounted on said sleeve shaped member,clutch means for connecting said driving gear in driven relation withsaid sleeve shaped member, said clutch means being engaged by axialmovement of said sleeve in one direction and disengaged by movement inthe opposite direction, a spring urging said sleeve in a direction toengage said clutch means, a ring gear rotatably supported on said shaftportion, a cylindrical member rotatably supported on said shaft portion,detent means normally holding said cylindrical member against rotation,a gear rotatably supported by said cylindrical member and meshing withsaid driving gear and said ring gear, a projection on said cylindricalmember, a lug on said ring gear engageable with said projection, aspring connected at its ends to said ring gear and said cylindricalmember and tending to rotate them in opposite directions, a stationaryframe portion adjacent to said ring gear and having an index linethereon, an indicator scale on said ring gear cooperating with saidindex line to provide a visual indication of the angular position ofsaid gear, and means including a knob for moving said sleeve axially todisengage said clutch means and for rotating said platen shaft.

2. The device of claim 1 including detent means operable on moving saidsleeve to its clutch disengaging position, for holding said sleeve insuch position.

3. A device for indicating the position of a paper sheet relative to theline of typing on the platen of a typewriter comprising, in combination,a shaft supporting said platen and having a portion extending from oneend thereof, a sleeve mounted on the extending portion of said shaft,means connecting said sleeve for rotation wlth said shaft but permittingmovement axially of the latter,

a driving gear, clutch means for connecting said driving gear in drivenrelation with said sleeve, said clutch means being engaged by axialmovement of said sleeve in one direction and disengaged by movement inthe opposite direction, means normally moving said sleeve in a directionto engage said clutch means, a ring gear arranged concentrically withsaid driving gear, a cylindrical member mounted on said shaft portionand adapted to be rotated manually, detent means for holding saidcylindrical member normally against rotation, a gear rotatably supportedby said cylindrical member and meshing with said driving gear and saidring gear, means tending to rotate said ring gear to a predeterminedangular position relative to said cylindrical member, a stationary frameportion having an index line thereon, an indicator scale on said ringgear cooperating with said index line to provide a visual indication ofthe angular position of said gear, and manuallyoperable means for movingsaid sleeve axially and for rotating said platen shaft.

4. In a typewriter having a carriage including a frame, a shaftrotatably supported in said frame, a platen fixed to said shaft and afeed mechanism for advancing the platen line by line, a device forindicating the relative rotation of said platen from a referenceposition on said frame comprising, in combination, a knob; a sleevecoaxial with said shaft and slidably and rotatably supported on thelatter; means mounting said knob at an end of said sleeve, said meanssupported for axial movement on said shaft and adapted to slide saidsleeve; means connecting said sleeve, said mounting means and said shaftfor rotational movement; a driving gear rotatably supported on saidsleeve; a friction member attached to said driving gear adapted to beselectively engaged by said sleeve; resilient means urging said sleeveinto engagement with said friction member; a ring gear with indiciathereon rotatably supported around said sleeve; a cylindrical memberrotatably supported on said mounting means; engaging means on said ringgear and said cylindrical member for establishing a home position; anidler gear rotatably attached to said cylindrical member and,

constantly in mesh with said driving gear and said ring gear; springmeans urging said ring gear to a home position engaged with saidcylindrical member; and detent means associated with said cylindricalmember and said frame for maintaining a settable relation between saidring gear and said frame.

5. In a typewriter having a carriage including a carriage frame, a shaftrotatably supported in said frame, a platen fixed to said shaft, and afeed mechanism for advancing the platen line by line, a device forindicating the relative rotation of said platen from a referenceposition on said frame comprising, in combination, a knob; a sleevecoaxial with said shaft and slidably and rotatably supported on thelatter; means coupling said knob to an end of said sleeve; meansconnecting said sleeve, said coupling means, and said shaft forrotational movement;

a driving gear rotatably supported on said sleeve; clutch means forconnecting said driving gear in driven relation with said sleeve, saidclutch means being engaged by axial movement of said sleeve in onedirection and disengaged by movement in the opposite direction;resilient means urging said sleeve in a direction to engage said clutchmeans; a ring gear with indicia thereon rotatably supported about saidsleeve; a cylindrical member rotatably supported on said coupling means;an idler gear rotatably attached to said cylindrical member and co11stantly in mesh with said driving gear and said ring gear; and detentmeans associated with said cylindrical member and said frame formaintaining a settable relation between said ring gear and said frame.

6. In a typewriter having a carriage including a carriage frame, a shaftrotatably supported on said frame, a platen fixed to said shaft, and afeed mechanism for advancing the platen line by line, a device forindicating the relative rotation of said platen from a referenceposition of said frame comprising, in combination, manually operablecontrol means coupled to said shaft for rotation of the latter, saidcontrol means adapted to be moved axially with respect to said shaft, adriving gear rotatably supported by said control means for movementabout said shaft, clutch means normally coupling said driving gear andsaid control means and adapted to remove the coupling by axial movementof the control means, a ring gear with indicia thereon, said ring gearbeing rotatably supported by said control means, an adjusting memberadapted for rotation with respect to said shaft for preliminaryadjustment of said device, and an idler gear rotatably attached to saidadjusting member and in mesh with said driving gear and said ring gear.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,295,307 Hawley Feb. 25, 1919 1,603,036 Fanger Oct. 12, 1926 2,298,590Rich Oct. 13, 1942

